Did you know your clients can tell if you are happy?

It’s true. Adding to a growing literature showing that the person of the therapist is more important than theoretical orientation, years of experience, or discipline, a new study documents that clients are sensitive to the quality of their therapist’s life outside of treament. In short, they can tell when you are happy or not. Despite our best efforts to conceal it, they see it in how we interact with them in therapy. By contrast, therapists’ judgements regarding the quality of the therapy are biased by their own sense of personal well-being.The solution? Short of being happy, it means we need to check in with our clients on a regular basis regarding the quality of the therapeutic relationship. Multiple randomized clinical trials show that formally soliciting feedback regarding progress and the alliance improves outcome and continued engagement in treatment. One approach, “Feedback-Informed Treatment” is now listed on SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. Step-by-step instructions and videos for getting started are available on a new website: www.pcomsinternational.com.Seeking feedback from clients not only helps to identify and correct potential problems in therapy, but is also the first step in pushing one’s effectiveness to the next level. In case you didn’t see it, I review the research and steps for improving performance as a therapist in an article/interview on the Psychotherapy.net website. It’s sure to make you happy!

Comments

Great article! An explanation why in my country 80% of those with a degree have no success in working as a therapist. And why people without any degrees have often success and great results in working with their customers!